The Dreamer Series – The Charms of Being a Writer

The Charms of Being a Writer

This is going to be one of those “I” essays, so bear with me my friends.

As a kid I used to have all these stories in my head. I would tell them to my friends and family. Many stories were imagined due to the fact that I grew up mostly spending time alone, but that never bothered me. I had my dreams and my stories. Like many of us, I used my talent for storytelling for mischief and getting my backside on the safe side of discipline. I took to reading fast, as probably all of these “how it all came to be” stories go, and started writing when I was fourteen. At the time, it was a way to test my imagination and language skills. I wanted to see how far I could go. After having written copious amounts of stories and almost four books, it was time to take this a bit more seriously.

Hence, the rough part of my journey begins.

What are these charms of being a writer, you might ask? Well my friends, these would include fame, glory, copious amounts of money, wine women/men and song, cocaine or drug of choice, TV and movie deals, conferences, fans and being able to say what you want, not to mention traveling and foremost, groupies. Lots and lots of groupies.

Yes my friend, as a writer you are the rock star of words. Your pen is mightier than the forces of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Your words move mountains and bodies.

And when the dream ends, back to reality we come. Being a writer requires a special kind of person. It requires a determination stronger than that of an ox fighting against a brick wall. This is due to the simple fact that your art comes first. As in visual arts and music, your works are precedent and only after they have been judged does the artist come into play. It rarely matters how eloquent you are, how well you can defend your art; what the person sees first is your writing and judges both you and what they read based on those criteria.

As a writer I have gone through all the stages. The first stage being the one where you let your friends read your writing. Be aware that you will mostly get positive feedback from them. After that comes the hard part – actually giving a professional your material. In my case it resulted in constructive criticism, but that may not be the case for everyone. Setbacks are bound to happen. The life of a writer has enough of those to go around. If you want I could give you some of mine, I’d be glad to get rid of them. When we consider that the greats of today were set aside hundreds of times, it comes as no surprise that any other writer will go through the same.

My second attempt to enter the industry had me contacting agents, which resulted in numerous rejections from my side because they all wanted to change my story for market appeal. This continued, although I did get positive reviews from smaller companies that didn’t have the resources or the connections to back me. This is one of the charms of being a writer – being misunderstood. Every book sale or story published is like a persuasion. You constantly look for a chance to get ahead and the struggle only stops when you make it; and I mean make it big.

Another charm of being a writer is the industry itself. The trends, the finances, the marketing and everything that goes along with it. A writer never fits in on their first try. Granted, there is a niche which can be filled upon your first endeavor, but success never comes easily.

Due to this reason I went the indie route and self-published my book in order to have complete control over the things I hold dear, i.e. the story itself and my vision. This beckons new hindrances, as authors frankly know little about marketing, or at least not enough. Again, every sale is a persuasion and every success you manage to gain is hard-earned and resulted from your courage and will alone.

As an author you can never quit. It requires your complete effort and is tiring to say the least. Publishing one book or story means that you will have to publish more if you want to keep going. This is a simple fact. As a writer one must never let their guard down and never be short of imagination and readiness to do hard work. Where writing differs from normal work, where these same requirements must be met, is the fact that your imagination is required. The mind of the writer is expected to be endless and the possibilities of one’s writing to be fruitful and of the highest quality.

To get back to indie publishing. This is the hard way to go about being a writer, as shortly explained in the above reasons. Nevertheless, it is the most rewarding. Every success means so much more when you made it by yourself. When you gain something as a self-published writer – a deal with a publishing company, good reviews, or even fame – you made it all happen mostly due to your own stubborn head and endless dreams, and this can be exhilarating.

The charms of being a writer are as numerous as the stories you come up with. Each time you learn something about yourself anew and explore the depths of the world around you, as well as that special little place in your head. On the outside, be prepared for a hard time, but on the inside, you will live the dream. Never let that go.

This is me. My name is Bartholomew Korbyn, and I am a writer.

BIO:

Imagine shaking my hand and me telling you: “Hello, my name is Bartholomew Korbyn.” I have been a writer for over eight years now. As you could probably guess, and see from my articles, I am a dreamer and determined to make it as an author of both name and reputation. My self-published début novel is available on Amazon and here is the link – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GYAO9X4